エリオット・ヤミン (Elliott Yamin)

Elliott Yamin
Elliott Yamin (born Efraym Elliott Yamin on July 20, 1978) is an American singer who is known for being the third-place finalist on the fifth season of American Idol.

Yamin was born in Los Angeles, California to an Israeli father of Iraqi Jewish descent, Shaul Yamin, and a Jewish American mother, Claudette Goldberg. He relocated to Richmond, Virginia with his family when he was 11 years old. His parents divorced when he was 14 and his father moved back to Los Angeles. Elliott has resided in Los Angeles since competing in the fifth season of American Idol.

Yamin discovered his singing talent singing karaoke late in his teens. Although he had not been musically trained, he sang in a local jazz band and in amateur performance forums, emulating Stevie Wonder,Whitney Houston, and Donny Hathaway. He attended Douglas S. Freeman High School in Richmond, Virginia. He dropped out of high school in his sophomore year, but later achieved a high school graduation equivalence certificate while working in one of the many jobs he held before auditioning for American Idol.

Yamin is 90% deaf in his left ear, and was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes at the age of 16...
(Wikipedia: Elliott Yamin)